LIVING IN THE "OOH'S"

what is the primary point...LIFE CHANGING...single most important aspect that has made a difference in your life...since we xrossed the boundary of 1999 and the boundaries of the past millenium...into the "OOH'S"?

how do the "OOH'S" or "oh's" differ from the fifties...or for more of us...the sixties...seventies...eighties...and nineties?

for me it was....stndng on vsy st. at 10:00am...spt112oo1. watching and breathing the hellfire...

Sept 11 and the Sniper shootings.. I was in DC during both events and I remember sitting in class when the Pentagon was hit... you could see the smoke outside of the classroom windows... .. we were all very worried and concerned because the school's location wasn't far from the White House and down the street from the World/IMF Bank..

as far as the sniper shootings were concerned.. a couple of them happened near my apt so without having a clue as to what the suspects looked like or knowing that there wasn't a pattern with the victims I was definitely scared...

To me it has been going into prisons, and seeing that they really give life without parole sentences, and to see folks 30-35 and have been locked up since 17, with situations you see yourself could have gotten caught up in, felony-murder convictions becase a friend asked you to drive him somewhere. Like BP said life aint never as bad as you think it is. Then seeing alot of young people die from accidents, especially motorcycles. Life is short, enjoy every moment we have

I had two major life experiences that opened my eyes to the world and gave me a new profound view on life.

1)My mother's past substance abuse problem really changed my life and how I perceived the world. I saw an educated woman with advance degrees who on the outside had the ideal life but inside felt emotionally crippled and turned to drugs as a way to cope. I had to witness my mother lose everything including her house, children, husband, career, friends, and family before she realized her problem. While most people end up stuck in such a destructive lifestyle until they end up in the system or dead, I witness my mother pull herself together and come back from a living hell more dynamic than before. In turn, her sobriety has helped others with the same problem. My mother has always been very candid about her experience on drugs and I never had to find out information from anyone else. Because of my mother, I grew up strong and I respect her tremendously for all that she has accomplished. Now that Iím older, I realize how drastically different my life could have been if I didnít have a father to take over parental duties, and if my mother never recovered from her addiction. This experience really makes me realize how blessed I am because I know too many people who had similar circumstances with a parent on drugs and their life has been very difficult as a result.

2) When I was 15 I spent three months in Africa with my Aunt and Uncle. We spent time in Cairo Egypt, Nairobi Kenya, Khartoum Sudan, Madagascar, and a few other places. Despite our problems in America, we live in one of the best countries in the world. Horrendous and deplorable are the words to describe the conditions of how the poor live in Africa. Being poor in America would be a relief to those people living in Africa. The conditions there are so shameful that I can understand why people question if there is a God and why does he allow his creatures to suffer this way. The colonist and the corrupted governments who steal aid from the people should be forced to trade places with them for at least a month to experience their suffering. After I came back, I knew I wanted to do something to change the conditions out there. Perhaps that explains why I consider race related issues in American such a diminutive problem in comparison. At least in American we have SOME opportunity to get out of poverty while in Africa it is a continuous cycle. As a black woman, I recognize that in order for me to get to the same level as a white person, I will have to be smarter and work a hundred times harder. Still I know that despite the odds, I still have a chance. Can the poor in Africa say the same thing? While the people in Africa have little to no resources, blacks in America can get out of poverty and make a good life for themselves.

Pales in comparison to these experiences you listed here though Regal. Life has a way of throwing some serious curve balls at you.

Ugh I wouldn't want to be thrown in jail over a crime I'm innocent of. That frightens me to death. A friend of mine was doing humanitarian aid work in Darfur and he was thrown in prison there because while visiting the hospital the guard saw a camera in his bag. They accused him of spying and charged him with treason. The situation went from bad to worse because the government wanted to execute him. Fortunately the NGO he was working for got him out but he had to spent four days in a Sudanese prison. According to my friend what he witnessed in the prison was horrific. I cried when he told his story. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be?